Bleak Faith: Forsaken Review (Harzy)
A genuine gem of a game.
It's rare that I run into something that has such a clear vision right from the very outset that manages to keeps me captivated from start to finish, and upon looking through the store page/trailers/etc for the first time a few weeks back I truly was not expecting this to grip me the way it did.
I went into Bleak Faith: Forsaken (Which, if I'm allowed to be critical, is a rather silly name that doesn't mirror what the game is, nor what it feels like. Might just be me though.) with the intent to refund it before the 2 hour window was up. It had been on my radar since it first came out and I heard about how much of a confusing disaster it was. I just wanted to peek around and see what it was actually like now that it had been out for an amount of time, but I just.. couldn't stop playing. At first, out of bafflement and curiosity. And then, rather quickly, out of genuine enjoyment.
I've personally never played something as janky, unpolished, and truly immersive (For me at least, your experience may vary) as this, especially in the Souls-like genre. Something about the audio, visuals, and the moment to moment gameplay just clicked with me. I have a soft spot for unguided exploration, something that many games lack these days, and a great deal of the delight I felt while excavating this odd world came from how often I found myself lost and confused. So many studios seem to do everything in their power to keep a player on track, directed towards an apparent goal, but you'll find little of that here. And, to me, that is a breath of fresh air.
If you can get past the immediate lack of polish, frequent jankiness and semi-serviceable combat there's something special here if you value a sense of legitimate discovery and wonder. The game is weird, and never stops being weird. It's not a triple A masterpiece and not something I can easily recommend to the majority of people. It is flawed, but it doesn't try to hide that fact. For a studio of only 3 people to make something like this is nothing short of impressive to me. Other reviews here cover much of what I said in much greater detail and provide actual words on what the gameplay is like, but I can't emphasize enough how much of a -mood- this game is.
If you're on the fence about it I fully understand. Pick it up and play for an hour and you'll know if it's a game for you or not. If you don't like it, refund it. But if you do enjoy what you've experienced, you have so much more awaiting you.